Abstract
The purpose of the current study was to examine the influence proactive personality on innovative work behavior in teaching profession and investigate the potential mediating effects of affective states and creative self-efficacy on this relationship. Proactive Personality Scale, Positive and Negative Affect Schedule, Creative self-efficacy Scale and Teachers’ Innovative Work Behavior Scale were administered to 352 primary and middle school teachers in China. Results showed that proactive personality was significantly positively associated with teachers’ innovative work behavior. Furthermore, mediation analyses revealed that the impact of proactive personality on teachers’ innovative work behavior were simply mediated by positive affect and creative self-efficacy and sequential mediated by positive affect–creative self-efficacy and negative affect–creative self-efficacy. These findings provide a new perspective in understanding the intervening mechanisms underlying proactive personality on innovative work behavior. The possible explanations and limitations are discussed.
Similar content being viewed by others
Notes
Notes: Three items which may have an overlap or similar meanings between IWB and proactive personality were firstly excluded in order to avoid redundancy. Then, data analysis was re-performed. Results showed that there were no differences from previous results.
References
Amabile, T. M., Barsade, S. G., Mueller, J. S., & Staw, B. M. (2005). Affect and creativity at work. Administrative Science Quarterly, 50, 367–403.
Anderson, J. C., & Gerbing, D. W. (1988). Structural equation modeling in practice: a review and recommended two-step approach. Psychological Bulletin, 103, 411–423.
Baas, M., De Dreu, C. K. W., & Nijstad, B. A. (2008). A meta-analysis of 25 years of mood-creativity research: hedonic tone, activation, or regulatory focus? Psychological Bulletin, 134, 779–805.
Baer, M., Oldham, G. A., Jacobsohn, G. C., & Hollingshead, A. B. (2008). The personality composition of teams and creativity: the moderating role of team creative confidence. Journal of Creative Behaviour, 42, 255–282.
Bandura, A. (1986). Social foundation of thought and action: A social cognitive theory. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall.
Bateman, T. S., & Crant, M. J. (1993). The proactive component of organizational behavior: a measure and correlates. Journal of Organizational Behavior, 14, 103–118.
Beghetto, R. A. (2006). Creative self-efficacy: correlates in middle and secondary students. Creativity Research Journal, 18, 447–457.
Bergeron, D. M., Schroeder, T. D., & Martinez, H. A. (2014). Proactive personality at work: seeing more to do and doing more? Journal of Business and Psychology, 29, 71–86.
Borman, W. C. (2004). Introduction to the special issue: personality and the prediction of job performance: more than the big five. Human Performance, 17, 267–269.
Brislin, R. W. (1986). The wording and translation of research instruments. In W. J. Lonner & J. W. Berry (Eds.), Field methods in cross cultural research (Vol. 8, pp. 137–164). Beverly Hills, CA: Sage.
Carmeli, A., & Schaubroeck, J. (2007). The influence of leaders’ and other referents; normative expectations on individual involvement in creative work. The Leadership Quarterly, 18, 35–48.
Cervone, D., Kopp, D. A., Schaumann, L., & Scott, W. D. (1994). Mood, self-efficacy, and performance standards: lower moods induce higher standards for performance. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 67, 499–512.
Chen, S. C., Wu, M. C., & Chen, C. H. (2010). Employee’s personality traits, work motivation and innovative behavior in marine tourism industry. Journal of Service Science and Management, 3, 198–205.
Chen, G., Farh, J. L., Campbell-Bush, E. M., Wu, Z., & Wu, X. (2013). Teams as innovative systems: multilevel motivational antecedents of innovation in R&D teams. Journal of Applied Psychology, 98, 1018–1027.
Choi, J. N. (2004). Individual and contextual predictors of creative performance: the mediating role of psychological processes. Creativity Research Journal, 16, 187–199.
Costa, P. T., & McCrae, R. R. (1992). Revised NEO Personality Inventory (NEO PI-R) and NEO Five-Factor Inventory (NEO-FFI) professional manual. Odessa, FL: Psychological Assessment Resources.
Crant, J. M. (1995). The proactive personality scale and objective job performance among real estate agents. Journal of Applied Psychology, 80, 532–537.
Cropanzano, R., Weiss, H. M., Hale, J. M. S., & Reb, J. (2003). The structure of affect: reconsidering the relationship between negative and positive affectivity. Journal of Management, 29, 831–857.
De Dreu, C. K. W., Baas, M., & Nijstad, B. A. (2008). Hedonic tone and activation level in the mood–creativity link: toward a dual pathway to creativity model. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 94, 739–756.
Eysenck, H. J. (1993). Creativity and personality: suggestions for a theory. Psychological Inquiry, 4, 147–178.
Fredrickson, B. L. (2001). The role of positive emotions in positive psychology: the broaden-and-build theory of positive emotions. American Psychologist, 56, 218–226.
Frese, M., & Fay, D. (2001). Personal initiative: an active performance concept for work in the twenty-first century. Research in Organizational Behavior, 23, 133–187.
Gasper, K. (2003). When necessity is the mother of invention: mood and problem solving. Journal of Experimental Social Psychology, 39, 248–262.
Gist, M. E., & Mitchell, T. R. (1992). Self-efficacy: a theoretical analysis of it determinants and malleability. Academy of Management Review, 17, 183–211.
Gong, Y., Huang, J.-C., & Farh, J. L. (2009). Employee learning orientation, transformational leadership, and employee creativity: the mediating role of employee creative self-efficacy. Academy of Management Journal, 52, 765–778.
Hammond, M. M., Neff, N. L., Farr, J. L., Schwall, A. R., & Zhao, X. (2011). Predictors of individual-level innovation at work: a meta-analysis. Psychology of Aesthetics, Creativity, and the Arts, 5, 90–105.
Hirt, E. R., Devers, E. E., & McCrea, S. M. (2008). I want to be creative: exploring the role of hedonic contingency theory in the positive mood–cognitive flexibility link. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 94, 214–230.
Hsu, M. L. A., Hou, S. T., & Fan, H. L. (2011). Creative self-efficacy and innovative behavior in a service setting: optimism as a moderator. Journal of Creative Behaviour, 45, 258–272.
Hu, L. T., & Bentler, P. M. (1999). Cutoff criteria for fit indexes in covariance structure analysis: conventional criteria versus new alternatives. Structural Equation Modeling, 6, 1–55.
Huang, L., Yang, T., & Ji, Z. (2003). Applicability of the positive and negative affect scale in Chinese. Chinese Mental Health Journal, 17, 54–56.
Isen, A. M. (1990). The influence of positive and negative affect on cognitive organization: some implications for development. In N. L. Stein, B. Leventhal, & T. Trabasso (Eds.), Psychological and biological approaches to emotion (pp. 75–94). Hillsdale, NJ: Erlbaum.
Isen, A. M., Johnson, M. M., Mertz, E., & Robinson, G. F. (1985). The influence of positive affect on the unusualness of word associations. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 48, 1413–1426.
Isen, A. M., Daubman, K. A., & Nowicki, G. P. (1987). Positive affect facilitates creative problem solving. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 52, 1122–1131.
Janssen, O. (2000). Job demands, perceptions of effort-reward fairness and innovative work behaviour. Journal of Occupational and Organizational Psychology, 73, 287–302.
Jawahar, I. M., Kisamore, J. L., Stone, T. H., & Rahn, D. L. (2012). Differential effect of inter-role conflict on proactive individual’s experience of burnout. Journal of Business and Psychology, 27, 243–254.
Kanfer, R. (1992). Work motivation: new directions in theory and research. In C. L. Cooper & I. T. Robertson (Eds.), International review of industrial an organizational psychology (Vol. 7, pp. 1–53). Chichester, England: Wiley.
Kim, T. Y., Hon, A. H. Y., & Crant, J. M. (2009). Proactive personality, employee creativity, and newcomer outcomes: a longitudinal study. Journal of Business and Psychology, 24, 93–103.
Kim, T. Y., Hon, A. H. Y., & Lee, D. R. (2010). Proactive personality and employee creativity: the effects of job creativity requirement and supervisor support for creativity. Creativity Research Journal, 22, 37–45.
Kline, R. B. (2011). Principles and practices of structural equation modeling (3rd ed.). New York, NY: Guilford Press.
Lee, H.-H., & Yang, T.-T. (2015). Employee goal orientation, work unit goal orientation and employee creativity. Creativity and Innovation Management, 24, 659–674.
Li, M., Wang, Z., Gao, J., & You, X. (2015). Proactive personality and job satisfaction: the mediating effects of self-efficacy and work engagement in teachers. Current Psychology. doi:10.1007/s12144-015-9383-1.
Li, M., Gao, J., Wang, Z., & You, X. (2016). Regulatory focus and teachers’ innovative work behavior: the mediating role of autonomous and controlled motivation. Studies of Psychology and Behavior (In Chinese), 14, 42–50.
Liao, H., Liu, D., & Loi, R. (2010). Looking at both sides of the social exchange coin: a social cognitive perspective on the joint effects of relationship quality and differentiation on creativity. Academy of Management Journal, 53, 1090–1109.
Liu, Y., Wang, Z., Quan, S., & Li, M. (2015). The effect of positive affect on conflict resolution: modulated by approach-motivational intensity. Cognition & Emotion. doi:10.1080/02699931.2015.1081874.
Madjar, N., Oldham, G. R., & Pratt, M. G. (2002). There’s no place like home? The contributions of work and non-work sources of creativity support to employees’ creative performance. Academy of Management Journal, 45, 757–767.
Madrid, H. P., Patterson, M. G., Birdi, K. S., Leiva, P. I., & Kausel, E. E. (2014). The role of weekly high-activated positive mood, context, and personality in innovative work behavior: a multilevel and interactional model. Journal of Organizational Behavior, 35, 234–256.
Major, D. A., Turner, J. E., & Fletcher, T. D. (2006). Linking proactive personality and the big five to motivation to learn and development activity. Journal of Applied Psychology, 91, 927–935.
Martin, L. L., Ward, D. W., Achee, J. W., & Wyer, R. S. (1993). Mood as input: people have to interpret the motivational implications of their moods. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 64, 317–326.
Messmann, G., & Mulder, R. H. (2014). Exploring the role of target specificity in the facilitation of vocational teachers’ innovative work behaviour. Journal of Occupational and Organizational Psychology, 87, 80–101.
Mikulincer, M., Kedem, P., & Paz, D. (1990). Anxiety and categorization: I. The structure and boundaries of mental categories. Personality and Individual Differences, 11, 805–814.
Muthén, L. K., & Muthén, B. O. (1998-2012). Mplus user’s guide (Seventh ed.). Los Angeles, CA: Muthén & Muthén.
Ng, T. W. H., Eby, L. T., Sorensen, K. L., & Feldman, D. C. (2005). Predictors of objective and subjective career success: a meta-analysis. Personnel Psychology, 58, 367–408.
Parke, M. R., Seo, M.-G., & Sherf, E. N. (2015). Regulating and facilitating: the role of emotional intelligence in maintaining and using positive affect for creativity. Journal of Applied Psychology, 100, 917–934.
Paunonen, S. V., & Jackson, D. N. (2000). What is beyond the big five? Plenty! Journal of Personality, 68, 821–835.
Podsakoff, P. M., MacKenzie, S. B., Lee, J., & Podsakoff, N. P. (2003). Common method biases in behavioral research: a critical review of the literature and recommended remedies. Journal of Applied Psychology, 88, 879–903.
Qiu, L., Zheng, X., & Wang, Y. (2008). Revision of the positive affect and negative affect scale. Chinese Journal of Applied Psychology (In Chinese), 14, 249–254.
Randolph, K. L., & Dahling, J. J. (2013). Interactive effects of proactive personality and display rules on emotional labor in organizations. Journal of Applied Social Psychology, 43, 2350–2359.
Russell, J. A., & Carroll, J. M. (1999). On the bipolarity of positive and negative affect. Psychological Bulletin, 125, 3–30.
Scott, S. G., & Bruce, R. A. (1994). Determinants of innovative behavior: a path model of individual innovation in the workplace. Academy of Management Journal, 37, 580–607.
Seibert, S. E., Crant, M. J., & Kraimer, M. L. (1999). Proactive personality and career success. Journal of Applied Psychology, 84, 416–427.
Seibert, S. E., Kraimer, M. L., & Crant, J. M. (2001). What do proactive people do? A longitudinal model linking proactive personality and career success. Personnel Psychology, 54, 845–874.
Seo, M. G., Barrett, J. M., & Bartunek, L. F. (2010). The role of affective experience in work motivation. Academy of Management Review, 29, 423–439.
Shang, J., & Gan, Y. (2009). Analysis of the effects of the proactive personality on graduates career decision making self-efficacy. Acta Scientiarum Naturalium Universitatis Pekinensis (In Chinese), 45, 548–554.
Sui, Y., Chen, Y., & Wang, H. (2012). Climate for innovation, creative efficacy and team innovation: the moderating role of team leadership. Acta Psychologica Sinica (In Chinese), 44, 237–248.
Thurlings, M., Evers, A. T., & Vermeulen, M. (2015). Toward a model of explaining teachers’ innovative behavior: a literature review. Review of Educational Research, 85, 430–471.
Tierney, P., & Farmer, S. M. (2002). Creative self-efficacy: its potential antecedents and relationship to creative performance. Academy of Management Journal, 45, 1137–1148.
Tierney, P., & Farmer, S. M. (2011). Creative self-efficacy development and creative performance over time. Journal of Applied Psychology, 96, 277–293.
To, M. L., Fisher, C. D., Ashkanasy, N. M., & Rowe, P. A. (2012). Within-person relationships between mood and creativity. Journal of Applied Psychology, 97, 599–612.
Totawar, A. K., & Nambudiri, R. (2014). Mood and self-efficacy: the moderation of hedonic and utilitarian motivation. Human Resource Development Review, 13, 314–335.
Wang, Z., Wang, K., You, X., & Dang, H. (2010). Effects of teacher efficacy, work motivation, and mood on teaching innovation. Psychological Science (In Chinese), 33, 1254–1257.
Watson, D., Clark, L. A., & Tellegen, A. (1988). Development and validation of brief measures of positive and negative affect: the PANAS scales. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 54, 1063–1070.
Yang, J.-S., & Hung, H. V. (2015). Emotions as constraining and facilitating factors for creativity: companionate love and anger. Creativity and Innovation Management, 24, 217–230.
Yuan, F. R., & Woodman, R. W. (2010). Innovative behavior in the workplace: the role of performance and image outcome expectations. Academy of Management Journal, 53, 323–342.
Zautra, A. J., Potter, P. T., & Reich, J. W. (1997). The independence of affects is context-dependent: an integrative model of the relationship between positive and negative affect. In M. P. Lawton & K. W. Schaie (Eds.). Annual Review of Gerontology and Geriatrics, 17, 75–102.
Zhang, M., & Zhang, L. (2012). Teacher’s innovative work behavior and innovation climate. Chinese Journal of Ergonomics, 18, 1–6.
Zhou, J., & George, J. M. (2001). When job dissatisfaction leads to creativity: encouraging the expression of voice. Academy of Management Journal, 44, 682–696.
Zhou, H., & Long, L. (2011). Effects of job insecurity and creative self-efficacy on employees’ creativity. Acta Psychologica Sinica (In Chinese), 43, 929–940.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Ethics declarations
Funding
This study was funded by The Ministry of Education Research of Social Sciences Youth Funded Projects, PRC (grant number 14YJC190011), The Projects of Philosophy and Social Science Fund of Shanxi Province, PRC (grant number (13 N023), and the College Students’ Innovation Training Program of Shaanxi Province, PRC (grant number 2015 DC037 & 2310).
Conflict of Interest
Author Mingjun Li has received research grants from Ministry of Education Research of Social Sciences Youth Funded Projects, PRC (grant number 14YJC190011), and The Projects of Philosophy and Social Science Fund of Shanxi Province, PRC (grant number (13 N023). Author Lu Liu has received research grants from the College Students’ Innovation Training Program of Shaanxi Province, PRC, (grant number 2015 DC037 & 2310). All authors declare that there no conflict of interest.
Ethical Approval
All procedures performed in studies involving human participants were in accordance with the ethical standards of the institutional and/or national research committee and with the 1964 Helsinki declaration and its later amendments or comparable ethical standards.
Informed Consent
Informed consent was obtained from all individual participants included in the study.
Additional information
All authors confirm to submit the manuscript to the Current Psychology. We confirm that this manuscript has not been published previously, and it is not under consideration for publication elsewhere.
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Li, M., Liu, Y., Liu, L. et al. Proactive Personality and Innovative Work Behavior: the Mediating Effects of Affective States and Creative Self-Efficacy in Teachers. Curr Psychol 36, 697–706 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12144-016-9457-8
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12144-016-9457-8